Radio technologies in cellular communications have grown rapidly and evolved since the launch of analog cellular systems in the 1980s, starting from the First Generation (1G) in 1980s, Second Generation (2G) in 1990s, Third Generation (3G) in 2000s, and Fourth Generation (4G) in 2010s (including Long Term Evolution (LTE) and variants of LTE). Fifth generation (5G) access networks, which can also be referred to as New Radio (NR) access networks, are currently being developed and expected to fulfill the demand for exponentially increasing data traffic, and to handle a very wide range of use cases and requirements, including among others mobile broadband (MBB) services, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services and machine type communications (e.g., involving Internet of Things (IOT) devices).
In particular, NR access networks will seek to utilize the wireless communications links between donor distributed unit (DU) devices and relay distributed unit (DU) devices (backhaul links), and also utilize the communications links between distributed units and user equipment (UEs) (access links), employing techniques for integrated access and backhaul (IAB), which is not without challenges.
The above-described background relating to wireless networks is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of some current issues and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other contextual information may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.